8 Months
by Shiggity Shwa
Summary: Three Years later on the island, the group has whittled down to few. After Claire and Shannon were killed by the others and their children taken, what will happen when Jack and Kate fall unwillingly into the same situation? JK minor CC, SS, and SAL....And
1. Night Whispers

_Yay! New story from me who never finishes stories! Because I rock. Anyways, very weird concept and very irregular format (As you'll see in the next chapter)And lots of the stuff y'all love to read, because the next chapter's a M! Whoo hoo! (And I'm very tired and spelly-mistakey right now) And I'm tyoping this up fast, so as usual, please excuse any spelling and or grammatical errors, thank ya kindly.  
Oh yeah SWEAR WARNING! There's swears in this one, so watch it!_

**Don't own them. If I did I'd be a rich girl, na, na, na, na. And then like a certain pop singer, I could buy out an entire country as my back up dancers! **

8 Months

Chapter 1

Night Whispers 

"Jack," her voice was breathless, just as it always was when she woke up in the middle of the night, her eyes wide, her chest rising and falling at an excessive rate, and her arms flung over her swollen stomach, "Jack," she breathed silently once again, the puffs of air floating from her mouth making more noise then her voice, "There's whispers again."

His eyes shot open and his body shifted from the area where he lay beside her on the sandy beach, "How far?" he questioned as he pulled a sweater over his uncovered chest, the fatigue instantly erased from his eyes and the stiffness melted from his muscles.

"They're in the bushes across from the fire," she stated bluntly, pulling the blanket up to her chest, "They've been there for an hour."

"Why didn't you wake me sooner?" he asked disappointedly, a hint of anger residing in the ambiance of the small hut while he rifled through the gleaming silver suitcase.

"I've been waking you so often…" she trailed off, her eyes staring through the small opening that the tarp doors made as they flapped in the eerie winter winds. "They're not leaving."

His hands stumbled over the guns in the case until he came upon the replacement bullets. He forced his hands to calm as he meticulously slid each bullet into the proper indent in the barrel of the nine millimeter.

In the dim light of the shelter, he could see her expression, and the sheer terror that etched itself into her beautiful face. She was jittery and weak, running on little food and even less sleep. Sleep was somewhat of a luxury for her, between the baby kicking and her pushing to stay awake to listen for whispers, it wasn't easy to come by.

"I'm close," she whispered and he watched her rub her hand in a circular motion around her stomach. His jaw set in dismay and her petrified glittering eyes looked up into his, "They always come at eight months."

His head along with hers dropped. It was true; the others did always come at eight months. It had just been so long since anyone was expecting that in the optimistic side of his brain, he presumed that they wouldn't come. But Kate was no different then Shannon or Claire; she was just another woman on the island to them.

He crawled from the suitcase to her, the sand scratching where his knees pressed against the holes in his old ratty blue jeans, and wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he disclosed as he kissed her icy temple gently, "Our camp may be small, but we stick together, you know that anyone here will protect you."

A gun fired in the near distance and like the start of a race, they both jumped up. The entire settlement had awakened in a hysteric fashion; Sayid had fired the gun like he had done during the drills, but now everyone was fully aware that this was no practice.

"Get to the hatch," Jack demanded as he opened the front door of their hut.

"Jack, I…" He leaned back into the hatch impatiently and with the severity of the situation he promptly cut her off, "Charlie and I will hold them off while everyone makes their escape to the hatch, I'll meet you back there I promise."

She nodded her head gravely and closed her eyes when he leaned forward to capture a swift but passionate kiss from her as his hand rested on top of her stomach, "Don't stop running until you get to the hatch," he reminded as he dragged his hand slowly through her hair. A weak smile graced his lips as they touched hers one last time, "Just pretend this is all a drill," and with those final words of wisdom, he left her to flee to safety.

She tore through the back door of the hut and in an awkward waddle began to move her bare feet across the stinging frozen sand that had not been heated by a lifeless winter sun yet. The arctic air tore at her lungs, and the loose, thin shirt she wore seemed to do nothing to protect her from the climate.

The sand slowly turned into soil and less noise was made while weaving through the jungle. The bottom of her feet ached dully, the healing blisters became aggravated by the sudden overuse of her feet and a cold, nervous sweat was now drenching her clothes.

She came to a small clearing fabricated by the crashing of an ancient tree during one of the recent storms and paused momentarily. In the darkness and confusion she wasn't quite sure which way the hatch was, and was sure she'd never come across this clearing before.

Her glassy green eyes scanned it for a moment, her skilled fingers twitching at the side of her body trying to estimate at which direction the wind was blowing. Squinting her eyes in the darkness, she came upon a final decision and turned to walk east when a nauseating ache abruptly stopped her.

She wrapped an arm around her stomach as the piercing pain worked from her lower abdomen to her back. Her footing became uneven and as a last chance of regaining her balance, she shot her arm out to grip a nearby tree branch, but tumbled before her fingers grazed the rough bark.

"Not now," Kate whispered terrified as her eyes wrenched closed, "Please God not now." Her fingers wrapped tightly around the thin fabric of the shirt she wore as her lungs struggled for air. Lost in the jungle and in labor pains, she was as helpless as a baby bird, and might as well have been carrying a neon sign to inform the Others where she was.

Her bare knees dug into the soggy mud that was forming around her weight as she tired to keep her demeanor quiet and calm, but then as quickly as it came on, the pain vanished as if the wind had blown it away.

Taking a few deep inhalations, she waited a few seconds before finally coming to a standing position. As the clouds rolled above head, a silent dry wind pushed past her and the brush started to rustle. Her trained eyes darted back and forth in the dim moonlight as she tried to identify any dangers around her, but as soon as her mind dismissed the fact that someone had been following her, there were footsteps.

_They only let you hear them if they want you to, _Eko's strong voice rang through her mind. Jack had warned her to keep her cool; the worse thing now was stress that induced premature labor. But the Others were coming.

They let her hear their footsteps to frighten her, to stress her so she would progress into labor, so that when they finally did capture her, she wouldn't put up much a fight.

"I can run," she told herself as she held to the bottom of her stomach protectively. Her ears tuned out the distant droning of the beach, and listened intently to the footsteps nearing her at a calm and collected pace. She knew they were coming by her left, and would've started running but her body panicked.

The stabbing pain rolled through her once again and her knees buckled, sending her right to the muddy jungle floor once again. A small squeak escaped her mouth before she fell, which sent the footsteps running faster.

Frantically her hands scratched at the muddy surface, trying to find something stable to push herself up with, but her fingers came across nothing but thick, shallow mud.

The footsteps grew closer until she heard them emerge from the jungle to her left as she had estimated, she wrenched her eyes shut in pain and hoped they would think she was already dead.

"Kate?" a voice asked nervously as a comforting hand was placed on her shoulder to help turn her over. His voice was friendly and immediately her pulse slowed and her breathing became regular once again, "What happened?"

"Sayid," she gasped as he helped her sit up, "I think I'm in labor," she whispered as she squeezed her eyes shut, the baby's movements inside of her adding to the pain. She looked up to his dark eyes, "I don't think I can walk."

"The hatch is only a few yards from here," he informed her as his hand slid to her back, "If you cannot make it on your own, I'll help you."

"But you have to take care of everyone in the hatch," Kate reminded as she took the hand he offered and attempted to stand.

"You're someone who's supposed to be in the hatch," Sayid answered, "And I don't think it would be appropriate if I just left you here," he added as he slipped her arm around his shoulders.

"But I'm the whole reason this is happening," she disclosed grimly as her eyes watched the ground, "They just want me, you could just…"

"Kate," he interrupted as they took their first steps, "I would not even think of it. Not only is it unfair to you and Jack, but I know you would've done the same for Shannon." His words were finished with a small, sad smile.

Kate returned the smile, it had been almost a year and a half since anyone had even mentioned Shannon, yet she could tell by Sayid's eyes that he still missed her deeply, and the pain of loosing her and their daughter was still evident.

They had taken her, just as they would try to capture Kate, in the middle of the night. They had attacked the camp while everyone slumbered, hitting anyone who tried to stop them, knocking out anyone who fought back too much. And when everyone but Shannon was injured or unconscious, they took her away.

They hadn't seen her for a week, until one day when Kate and Sun were walking to work on the garden; they had found her body, stone cold, dead white and childless. When Sayid laid his eyes on her one final time, his heart had instantly broken and he became different. Presently he always seemed to be embodied with an eternal sadness, with regret for not fighting hard enough to keep Shannon.

Claire was a different matter, she had managed to break away from their clutches and actually return to the camp to have Aaron. But after four weeks, the Others came once again, creeping through the night like a horrible disease. They destroyed the camp, hit people, killed people, and eight days later Claire's body was found, but Aaron had never been seen again.

Before they were killed, everything was going fine for the survivors. The groups had mingled in nicely with a few mislead spats usually caused by Ana-Lucia. Then, one day, they found out Locke was gone. No one knew what happened to him, they thought maybe he'd died after going into the jungle, but later, they all would've wished him dead.

* * *

"They've been gone a long time," Libby informed silently, her pale eyes flickered in the electric light of the hatch, "They're okay, right?" Her fingers were nervously entwining with each other as she sent random glances around the small group of survivors.

"I'm sure they're alright," Sun reassured quietly, with an almost too friendly smile.

"Of course they're alright," Ana-Lucia responded quickly, "This whole thing is their fault, so they'll come out of it without a scratch on them," she explained maliciously.

"Ana, it's no one's fault. They just did what nature intended them to do," Eko explained calmly from a distant corner.

"Really?" she questioned skeptically as she marched towards him, "Well if they would've kept their flies done up, we could all be sleeping right now."

The computer's alarm abruptly ended the conversation as it blared throughout the entire hatch complex. Everyone's head turned glancing at the machine, then at the man who was stationed behind it.

"Well?" Ana asked impatiently as he glanced morphed into a glare, "You gonna push the buttons or what?"

"Don't I always press the buttons?" he countered languidly as he ran a hand over his eyes and up into his hair.

"Hey, you're the only one who can't run through the jungle away from the Others," she reminded with an acid tipped tongue, "You basically made the choice yourself."

Hurley sighed and pushed himself closer to the computer, and as quickly as the numbers could be repeated, they were once again typed into the computer with expertise. "You know," he began, his face aged minimally and his skin ashen by three straight years of synthetic light, "It's a real shame Sawyer had to go and die on you, you two would've made a perfect couple."

"You fuc…" Suddenly a harsh knocking came at the door and everyone feared making a small noise. They waited for it to repeat three times, the same sequential banging. It was a code the final few were taught in order to keep the Other's from getting into the hatch if they ever did find it.

After it completed successfully, Eko promptly got up to undo the several locks that bolted the door shut, and as soon as he did, the silence of the cave erupted into hysteria.

"She's having the baby," Sayid gasped as he tried to support Kate with his tired arms, "Where's Jack?"

Sun immediately rose, "Has your water broke yet?" she questioned as Sayid let Kate's weight fall on her shoulder.

Kate shook her head while her eyes screwed shut, "No I've just been having contractions, they're about three minutes apart," she explained as Sun led her into the would-be living room, "Where's Jack?"

"We need to get you relaxed, first," Sun explained before closing the door behind her, leaving the other five to converse amongst themselves.

"Where's Jack?" Sayid repeated as Eko handed him a bottle of water.

"We thought he'd be coming with Kate for sure," Libby informed as she moved closer and sat beside him, "Wasn't he with her?"

"No," he shook his head with concern, "I found her in the jungle, she was lost and in labor, Jack was no where by her."

"What are we supposed to do?" Eko asked as he too took a seat by Sayid, "None of us has enough experience to deliver a baby," he sent a glance up to Hurley who immediately shook his head, "Dude, I just live in the hatch, I didn't get any special training about anything."

"We should throw her outside," Ana stated bluntly, "She's the reason the Other's are after us, if they had her, we would be left alone again and everything would be fine."

"That's appalling," Sayid stated disgustedly, "You would throw Kate out of here just to save yourself?"

"No it'd be saving all of us. It's called survival of the fittest," she informed blatantly.

"No it's called jealous," Libby announced as she shook her head, "Ana, you have to acknowledge this or it's not going to go away."

"Don't give me any of that psychiatrist shit," she replied irately, "You haven't been a psychiatrist for three years."

"Jealousy doesn't justify throwing Kate out there," Libby argued raising an arm towards the doorway.

"And love doesn't justify putting our lives in jeopardy because you're greedy!" Ana shouted back.

"You want to throw me out, then do it," Kate declared from the doorway. She stood slouched against the frame of it with an arm draped around her exploded stomach.

"Don't try and be the hero now that you've fucked everything up. This is all your fault in the first place," she growled as she approached Kate. The others stood behind her, silent and attentive.

"None of this is my fault," she disclosed defensively, "If this were a city, having a baby would be fine."

"But this isn't a city; this is an island, where the bad guys like babies. So to fend them off, you get pregnant? Or did you 'forget' to use protection one day?" she asked angrily, her fists were clenched and her fingers tingled for the feel of the slick metal of the gun trigger under them.

"Don't you dare think that I did this on purpose!" Kate yelled. Her voiced echoed through the hatch, and sent a jolt of surprise through Hurley who was falling asleep at the computer.

Everything became awkwardly quiet until the small sound of dripping was noticeable. A puddle was beginning to develop under Kate and across the floor. She glanced down over her large stomach to the growing puddle, "Fuck!"

"Kate, you need to lie down," Sun stated as she grabbed her by the forearm, "You need to stay relaxed, added stress can raise your blood pressure and may injure the baby."

Kate sighed and sent one more looks at the bolted hatch door, "I can't have it, not without Jack," she whispered as Sun began to gently tug her back into the secluded room.

As the door gently shut, Ana-Lucia turned around to meet three glaring faces, "I'm not going to walk on broken glass for them. You all know it's their fault that this is happening."

"It's also their fault that Sawyer died," Sayid pointed out bluntly, his eyebrows furrowed in anger.

She glared at him, she itched to just grab the handle of her gun and put him and Kate out of misery, but the others wouldn't understand. She swallowed hard, and turned away, she had to be patient for now. Jack and Kate would get what they had coming to them, she would make sure of that.

(space)

An hour had passed slowly; forty-eight minutes still remained until Hurley had to insert the numbers back into the computer. Sun and Kate were still in the other room, moans of pain could be heard every minute now as she came closer to delivering and Jack and Charlie had yet to make it to the hatch.

"Someone should tell them he's not here," Libby explained nervously as she eyes darted around the room, "Kate's probably trying to stall, that's not good for the baby, she's got to have the baby!" she exploded.

"Libby, there is nothing we can do," Eko expressed calmly, "If Jack is still out there, he will come, but if he's not, there's little we can do about it now," his dark eyes flashed across the room when a sudden banging came at the door.

Once again, everything became completely quiet as they waited for the sequential knocks. Staring at the door, everyone held their breath, afraid an exhalation might be too much noise.

The last knock came and Sayid jumped from his spot to open the heavy door. Slowly it creaked its way across the opening until Jack and Charlie could be seen. They were both in sorry condition, clothes and skin dirtied and bloody.

"Thank God," Libby gasped as she relaxed against the wall once again.

"What happened to you my friends?" Sayid questioned as he helped Jack who was holding his right shoulder, into the hatch, followed by a dangerously quiet Charlie.

"They surprised us," Jack explained quickly, "Where is Kate?"

"Jack," Ana voiced as she approached him, "Your arm, are you okay?"

"Where's Kate?" he questioned again as he gasped for air, his hazel eyes held guilt as they dashed around the room for sight of her.

"She's in labor," Eko announced ending the torture, "She's in the other room with Sun," he added gesticulating behind him to the closed door.

"What?" Jack questioned as his demeanor immediately changed from exhausted to fully awake. He pulled away from Sayid and rushed to the room Eko indicated not hesitating to rush in.

In the mediocre light he could see Kate's figure lying on the couch, with her back turned away from him. Sun immediately rose from the ratty armchair she'd been sitting in silently and approached him.

"What happened?" she gasped as she saw the blood dripping from his arm. She began to worm her hands under his left hand and attempted to pry his arm away from his wound, but he didn't seem to notice her.

"Is she okay?" he questioned as he paced further into the room, Kate's body didn't stir, he couldn't see her breathing. Something inside of him catches, like the first time he realized he loved her, and how much he really did. It seemed to late of a realization, but she seemed to know it all along.

"She's resting," Sun explained softly, obviously not wanting to wake Kate, "She's exhausted, and was running a fever. Her water broke and I couldn't keep her calm," she added finally getting Jack to drop his hand so she could see the gaping wound in his shoulder.

"Jack, you got shot," she told him like he already didn't know, "We've got to get the bullet out."

"Kate's more important," he told her, as if the chivalry he'd been missing for years has finally found him, "How long has she been out?"

"Jack," Sun began, but knew it was no good to argue with him, she'd have better luck just telling him what he wanted to know, "She's been out for an hour."

"Is that how long ago her water broke?" he questioned still staring at her sleeping form. She'd managed to turn around somehow, even with her expanded stomach, and was now facing him.

"Yes," Sun answered from a foot behind him, rifling through medical supplies Libby had brought her, "Now please Jack, let me help you."

He sighed and pursed his lips, first watching Kate, then turning back to Sun. He nodded his head gravely, "But if she wakes up, she comes first."

* * *

He watched her anxiously as he paced back and forth, his mouth covered by his hand as though he was in deep thought. Sun had pleaded with him to lie down and get some rest, to take the chair she sat in now, but he refused.

Junk was piled amongst the room; all the items that could've been salvaged from the cave were stashed in this room, including the two cribs that had been made for Claire and Shannon. He never pictured his first born child to be born in a junk room, in a hatch, forty-two feet underground.

The clean white cloth almost shone in the weak light, it hurt, a bullet would hurt anyone, but he didn't notice it. He stopped moving and stared at the concrete wall just above her head, thinking about what he was supposed to do. He'd never delivered a baby. Kate had delivered Aaron and Shannon had never gotten the chance to give birth.

Emotions overwhelmed him as he swore inside his head. So many things were pitted against their child. The Others, disease, lack of nutrition, infection, polar bears and monsters. Yet none of those were Jack's biggest fear. Deep in the back of his mind he constantly repeated the terror of him killing his own child, or Kate.

He glanced sideways at Sun, but found her sleeping cozily against the arm of the chair. Five years on an island, he was glad he'd remembered most of his medical training, but he figured after Shannon, no one would be stupid enough to get pregnant, let alone him being one half of the idiocy.

"Jack?"

All thoughts stopped as he looked down to see her green eyes staring back up at him. He noticed her face was paler then usual, but she wore that same guilty smile she always seemed to give him. And he almost cried.

"Kate," he breathed as though it were the first fresh breath of air he'd gotten since the crash. He fell to his knees so his face was equal with hers and chuckled gratefully.

His head bent down, and the touch of her soft lips against his was pure rapture. She was here, she was alive, he could feel her, smell her, taste her. He pulled away and his hand came up to her wavy curls, then slid to her cheek.

"Jack," her voice held more emotion then before, "Are you okay? Your arm," she pointed to the bright white bandage across his shoulder and he smiled weakly.

"It's fine," he insisted. She opened her mouth to speak again, but instead winced. His eyes widened as his hand naturally gripped hers to help her ease the pain, "Contractions?" he questioned almost wordlessly.

She nodded frantically as her one hand clasped her stomach, "They happen every minute now Jack," she informed and his heart involuntarily sped up. A light glaze of sweat frosted her face as her teary eyes burned into his, "I'm scared Jack," she told him bluntly.

Her grip relaxed and he let go of her hand, her eyes told him she needed to be comforted, but he was just as terrified as her, if not more. His arms wrapped around her back reassuringly, "It's going to be okay Kate," he whispered to her, his breath warm in her ear, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you two."

Another contraction came, and he moved away from her, "Has Sun checked to see how dilated you are?" he questioned. Kate's eyes seemed to go hazy before him and a wave of panic jolted through him, "Kate," he told her as he cupped her face, "Kate you've got to stay awake," he told her as her head began to dizzy.

"Sun!" he called across the room, waking the snoozing woman up. Her eyes shot open as she shook from shock, "Sun you have to help me," Jack demanded though it sounded like more of a plea.

She nodded coming to rest beside Jack, "You've got to keep Kate conscious, talk to her, do anything to keep her awake," he informed as he moved to the end of the couch. His hand came up and slid Kate's pants down slowly, and part of his mind caught the irony, that if he hadn't done this eight months ago, none of this would be happening.

"Kate, I need you to spread your legs as wide as you can," he instructed, "You're fully dilated, the baby's coming now, it's crowning."

She screwed her eyes shut and winced as pain coursed through her body, but she pushed until her strength ran dry. Kate looked up to see him, but over her stomach she couldn't see anything.

"That's good," he encouraged with a nervous smile, and gripped her hand, "when I tell you to, you have to push again, okay?"

"I don't think I can," she whispered breathlessly, her chest heaving and her skin sweating.

"Kate, do it for the baby," he expressed as he placed her hand on her stomach, "The baby needs you."

Sun watched the couple tensely, knowing that there was more then what was just on the surface between the two of them. Kate nodded and as she pushed, her face became flushed again.

"Come on Kate," Jack persuaded, "One more push, one more push." His hands were shaking as he saw his child be brought into the world. All his fears came bubbling to the surface and voiced themselves in his mind. Would he be able to take care of this baby? Would he be a good father? Would he drop it?

He came out of his reverie just in time to see the tiny baby's shoulders pass through, and the rest of its body come tumbling out. Automatically Jack's hands jerked down and caught the tiny child.

"Is it okay?" Kate questioned, sitting up still gasping for breaths, her hand still on her stomach.

"She's fine," Jack stated as he began to dry off his daughter, "We have a daughter," he told her as he placed the baby gently on her chest.

Tears flowed down her face as the tiny baby began to cry against her chest, "We have a daughter," she sobbed as her hand came to rest against the baby's back.

Sun smiled from the side, "I'll let you be alone," she informed as she quietly let herself out the door to give the new family time together.

Kate still lay smiling, running a finger over her daughter's tiny tuft of curly hair, as Jack worked quickly to cut her umbilical cord. Afterwards, he picked her up and wrapped her in a small fleece blanket, placed a blanket over Kate and situated himself beside her.

"She's gorgeous," he disclosed as a tiny hand closed around his finger, "I think we're going to have to beat the boys off her," he joked.

Kate smiled and leaned her head against Jack's shoulder languidly, and suddenly their daughter's eyes opened, revealing huge, beautiful green eyes. "She has your eyes," Jack pointed out as Kate pulled away from him.

She leaned over slightly and clutched her stomach with a wince of pain. Jack glanced over at her concerned, "Are you okay?" he questioned as he adjusted the baby against his chest.

"I'm having really bad contractions again," Kate whimpered as her face became flustered again, she left out a deep breath, "Is this normal?"

"It could be your uterus trying to morph back into the shape it was before you were pregnant, or you're probably just delivering your placenta," he explained as he placed his daughter in the salvaged crib from the caves.

She made a gurgling noise and a small whine of protest, but she settled into the close confines nicely. He smiled at her briefly before turning back to Kate.

"Jack," she moaned in pain, "Something's wrong."

She didn't see his face fall as she closed her eyes, "It's fine," he told her calmly, "I promise," he continued as he sat back on the couch, "You're just delivering…" He trailed off as he looked underneath the blanket.

"Jack, what's wrong?" she groaned as she continued to push.

"That's not a placenta," he informed as he immediately switched back into doctor mode. She stared at him waiting for an answer that he didn't give for a few minutes until he was completely, one hundred percent, sure.

"That's a head," he exclaimed as she bore down once again, "We're having twins," he told her with no hint of excitement.

"What!" she gasped as she pulled strings of sticky hair away from her face, "That's impossible, twins have to run in your family, and they don't in mine."

"Well they do now," he told her bluntly, "Kate, you've got to push."

"They like twins, Jack," she reminded as her eyes fell haunted.

"It doesn't matter," he told her with a stern shake of his head and pursed lips, "It's still our baby, now push as hard as you can."

She closed her eyes and set her jaw, pushing until she almost fainted. She relaxed back on the couch when she heard crying, and couldn't help the smile that came to her face. Upon opening her eyes, she looked to Jack, past her deflated stomach, who was cleaning off their second child.

"It's a girl," he informed handing her the second baby, who looked instantly identical to the first, "They're identical twins," he informed as he walked over and retrieved the first baby.

He sat beside her and watched as she started to cry, "Jack, we'll never be able to do this," she informed, "They like babies, they love twins, and identical ones, we might as well just…"

"Stop," he told her gently, "Nothing is going to happen, because we're going to take precautions. We're going to do everything safely, and nothing is going to happen to the girls," he told her as he bent down and placed a kiss atop of the baby's head that Kate was holding, then on the one he held.

"Jack, there's…" He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers. "We'll take it one day at a time. As long as we can give them what they want for now, they'll be fine."

"But what about tomorrow? Or the next day? Or in a week? A month? A year? What are we going to do? Never let them out of our sights? Someone's bound to screw up," she exclaimed sadly as she cuddled the baby in her arms.

"Is that why we haven't named them yet?" he questioned looking down to the baby who looked up at him with Kate's green eyes. She turned away from him, looking down in shame as a tear slid down her face.

"Kate," he called her as he turned her to face him, "We'll deal with it when it comes."

_

* * *

There you go. Weird twist eh? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Was it cold when you got it and didn't come with the extra pickles you ordered? Did you like the way I wrote Ana-Whateva and the other freaks who weren't important enough to be in the first season of the show? (I like Libby, she so cra-zay)  
Anyways, I love reviews, they make my dismal life lovely, so please be kind and review. OH and ask questions! I LOVE questions! They're like nature's candy!_

_**Next Chapter-** Wanna know how all this happened? Do ya? Punk? Well then read the next chapter, because it gives you a semi-look at how it happened. And I'll tell ya one thing. Jack didn't want kids…or Kate! (that's two things) But…Yay for bastard island husbands.  
_


	2. Unprotected

_I write fast. A tee hee hee. Lol not really, I've spent all my time doing this and neglecting my homework. Whoopsie. Anyways, I'm glad all who reviewed liked the story. I actually worked on it away from the computer (gasp) in a notebook I bought so I could write away from the computer (makes sense now doesn't it) so now I have like 3 pages of Jack and Kate…Lol I think I should sell it on Ebay! _  
_This chapter is rated M because of mature (ahem) 'thingies' that take place._

**And a special thanks to CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88 for being my fishy, and cheering me on! **

8 Months

Chapter 2

Unprotected

He followed her silently, slinking through the grass like a tiger hunting its prey. He pushed some tall grass out of the way as his legs took long strides to keep up with her gait. He'd warned her, he'd warned all of them repeatedly, not to go out into the jungle at all, especially not alone. And there she was, her backpack secured tightly around her stomach, her hair done up with a few small wisps of dark hair falling here and there.

She looked innocent enough, but everyone on the island, even they knew she could put up a fight, and that's what would attract them to her. Kate's face turned upwards as the sun shone speckled through the jungle canopy, dotting the lush ground with bright spots of light here and there. He could see her eyes look at peace, and the healing, bruised skin of her cheek turn an unhealthy yellow color.

He traveled along beside her, ten feet away from her but still parallel, making sure that when she took a step, he was there to match it. She left the camp quickly and quietly, sometime early this morning, when everyone but him was sleeping. She didn't stop to take a gun, or a knife or any form of protection, which was what set Jack off after her.

She stopped suddenly, her foot falling short of her fast pace, and he was too late to catch himself from continuing. His foot fell hard to the ground and the sole of his shoe crushed a twig that echoed loudly through the seemingly vacant jungle.

"Why are you following me?" she questioned irritated, her hands had fallen to her hips as she swung her body to face the direction of the sound.

She waited patiently, an annoyed look plastered to her face as he reluctantly ventured his way out of the line of trees that disguised him, "I warned you Kate," he told her as his eyes dashed around the nearby trees, "It's not safe to come out here alone, especially unarmed."

"Jack," she sighed as she shook her head, the few loose curls bounced lightly in the wind, "You follow me everywhere, you barely let me go to the bathroom alone. I can take care of myself, really," she informed lightheartedly.

"Really?" he questioned as he took his hand and pressed his thumb lightly into the sickly tan colored skin, "Then how did this happen?" He knew how it happened, he was there, partially.

Immediately she moved away from him and dropped her head in something of defeat, "I had to try Jack," she whispered, "I couldn't stand by and just let them take her." Her eyes were angry and spiked with tears.

"They were going to take her either way Kate," he told her quietly, not wishing to start a full scale argument for the sakes of not disturbing the Other's, who he was sure were only lurking a few feet away in the brush. "It would've been easier just to…"

"Let them take her?" Kate cried, "Let them drag her away? Let them kill her, and her baby? Watch Sayid breakdown and know that I didn't do a damn thing to stop them? That's better then being hurt for awhile?"

"They hit you hard Kate," he reminded sternly, "You were out cold for more then eight hours," as he continued his body became looser and his heart beat faster remembering waking up after the Others had come to take Shannon.

The caves in a mess, medical and food supplies thrown everywhere, people lying hurt, a ring of fire circling them in, he thought he was in hell. The whole plane crash of years earlier was recreated as he walked through the aching people he'd gotten to know as neighbors and thought nothing could get worse; then he saw her.

She was sprawled out across the ground by the waterfall lying face up and not moving an inch. Forgetting the whole scene that now embodied the caves, he ran to her instantly, and was relieved to find a plus.

In the light from the fires he saw that the left side of her face was swollen beyond recognition. She must've gotten hit with something large and hard, which knocked her out cold.

Later he would find out that while tending to Kate, coaxing her to wake up and treating her concussion that Sawyer died needing medical attention. Ana-Lucia had been with him across the caves, crying for help, but in the chaos, he'd failed to notice her. She'd never forgiven either of them.

"You couldn't walk for two days, and it took sometime for your short-term memory to come back," he stated. He wasn't trying to bring up painful memories, he wanted her to be okay, he wanted her to be protected.

"What if it was me Jack?" she questioned abruptly, her face falling, "What if I was pregnant and they were coming for me? Would you want everyone else to just lie down on the ground while the Others came and took me?"

His heart broke instantaneously at her comments; he'd never pictured it that way, "Don't say stuff like that," he mumbled, his mind in an uproar of thoughts.

A small unsatisfied sigh escaped her mouth, "We've never done anything about it," she announced as she shook her head with regret, "We've had all this time, and nothing's come of it."

"You saw what happened to the others," he uttered with dismay, as he began to walk away slowly, finding some sort of excuse to blame their awkwardness on. There had always been something between him, but his just fell short of love. "Sawyer's dead, and you know what happened to Shannon and Claire, you found them yourself. Do you really want…"

"I'm tired of being afraid Jack," she shouted angrily, "I'm tired of having to walk on eggshells everyday because of the freaks that inhabit the jungle. I used to live like that when I was on the run, and it almost drove me crazy," she paused for a moment as he stared at her with shock over her sudden outbreak, "And I'll be damned if I'm going to let the psychos in the jungle dictate my life."

"Kate," his eyes grew wide with fear as he kept his eyes on the trees behind her. Her body stiffened when she saw his abrupt change in attitude and her senses told her immediately that something was wrong, "run!"

With that one word she flew across the small clearing. He waited for her to pass, then followed her through the maze of trees while looking for cover. "How many of them were there?" she gasped as a low hanging branch hit the side of her face.

"Too many," was all he said as he followed her closely, working his way up to and past her. He reminded himself that she was still getting her strength back.

"How many?" she demanded as her legs seemed to slow gradually, like she needed to know how important it was to run.

"More then thirty," he informed as he reached out and grasped her hand, then began running again.

There were never any footsteps, as Eko frequently said, 'the Others only let you hear them when they want to be heard.' Their feet slammed against the damp jungle ground until they came to the ruins of the cave, everyone had abandoned it after it was attacked.

Jack took no time into running to the nearest cave, dragging the half exhausted Kate along with him, "We've got to hide," he told her as she began to stumble over her own two feet.

"Why can't we just…"

"Because running isn't working Kate!" He whispered to her harshly as they wormed their way down a small crevice in the cave.

Only a few feet wide, the passage stopped when it reached solid rock, which Jack leaned his back against. Kate sat a little before him, panting heavily as they both sat silently.

Suddenly through the dank dripping of the caves, footsteps could be heard, marching footsteps like those of a soldier. Kate turned her head back towards Jack and away from the miniscule hole of light, "They're coming Jack," she whispered almost inaudibly.

Her face had turned a milky white in the darkness, almost illuminating the whole cave. He remembered when he saw her after she found Shannon, her legs wouldn't move and she could barely speak, the sight was so grotesque.

"Come here," he whispered to her, gesturing with his arm. She hesitated only for a few seconds before crawling over to him with skinned knees and letting him embrace her softly.

"Jack," her voice trembled and her skin had gotten awfully cool, "We should have done something about us."

The footsteps drew closer to the opening of the cave now, only fifteen feet away. His arm wrapped around her frail shoulders as he held her to his chest, protecting her as much as he could, "I know," he whispered desolately his voice warm in her ear, his lips comforting on her forehead, "I know."

They could hear echoing from the cave now, more then ten pairs of feet, pacing around looking for clues; it would only be a matter of time before they found them and did whatever they wanted to do. They shuffling fell to the opening of the crevice and they both stopped breathing.

When the feet started moving directly towards them Jack whispered, "Close your eyes," his hand was reassuring on the back of her neck as she hid her face in his shoulder.

She nodded and placed her cheek against his neck, her body shaking along with his as they both drew shorten breaths. Seconds before being discovered, Jack too closed his eyes and sat silently in the dark corner of the cave, knowing that by now more then one pair of eyes were on him.

Then, everything became quiet once again. The mundane dripping of the smelly water continued, and somewhere close outside, a bird's song echoed. Slowly Jack slipped a hazel eye open, the dark ambiance of the cave didn't tell him anything.

"Kate," he whispered his lips almost to her ear, "Are you okay?"

Her head lifted gently off his shoulder and in the dim light he could see her green eyes, "I think so," she spoke softly, her eyes scanning her body for any injuries.

"They're gone," he told her as he edged away from her a bit and down to the opening of the tunnel, he cautiously poked his head around the corner and scanned the area, "They just left," he murmured.

"For no reason?" Kate questioned as she slowly made her way to the mouth of the cave.

"I don't know," he stated as he turned to her with a small smile, "But they're gone."

Kate glanced over her shoulders looking at the trees that lined the jungle's entry. Nothing stood out of the ordinary, yet she still had some obscure feeling that she was being watched, "So this is like a…"

Her eyes widened with surprise as Jack's lips spread over her delicately, only for a second or two, but it was enough to knock her off her feet, "second chance?" she finished after he'd moved away.

"We should do something about this," he told her as he grasped her hands in his, "About us." He bent his head down and captured her lips, pressuring her to open up to him, yet she didn't respond.

As he pulled away from her, his eyes were questioning, "Are you okay?" he asked, moving his hands away from her cheeks and to her shoulders.

"Yeah," she replied hesitantly, her eyes moved away from his face to the soft-soiled ground. "I'm just a little," she paused and sighed as her mind searched for the right word, "Overwhelmed."

The corners of his lips curled up into a small smile, "We don't have to do this now Kate," he informed her as he gently brushed back a piece of hair from her face.

"Her cool hands reached out and gripped his, "But I want to," she replied as her head tilted up and captured his lips.

The kiss was slow and passionate, enjoying the intimacy rather then forcing it, and she quickly opened up to him, letting his tongue explore the inside of her mouth.

His hand slipped slowly up her back, until it became entangled in her hair as he pulled her closer. His other hand slowly moved down the smooth curve of her body.

Her fingers curled around his neck, feeling the lean, overworked muscle. Her fingers dropped, tracing the sweaty surface of his hot skin until she felt his muscles through his shirt.

His lips left her mouth and traveled down her jawbone to the supple skin of her neck, and when he began to suck her skin, she let out a soft moan.

His fingers gripped the fabric of her shirt and slowly lifted it above her head and watched as her dark curls fell perfectly over her shoulders.

Quickly his lips fell to the exposed skin on her chest. Her arms hooked around his neck as his lips moved from the skin on her collarbone, to the soft skin of her breast that her bra didn't cover, leaving red marks randomly.

The shirt he wore was swiftly discarded, as it became to clingy to the thin layer of sweat on his chest. Her hands ran across his chest, to the zipper of his jeans, and their lips locked again in a fiery embrace.

His fingers spread out across her stomach, brushing the rough denim material of her blue jeans. The kiss was broken, and without a word spoken, they both discarded their jeans into the growing pile of clothes.

"Kate, are you sure about this?" he questioned one last time, himself having second thoughts over the consequences.

She nodded as she moved back against him, the silky material of her bra pressing against her chest, "We've waited too long Jack," she assured as she kissed his neck.

He bowed his head as his hands worked the clasp on her bra, he felt it give, then felt the naked skin of her back. The material slipped over her arms and to the ground in a matter of seconds, and her naked chest was to his. Her form was so cool, so comforting against his as his hand moved up to her breasts.

Slowly, they began to fall towards the ground; he guided her gently, until her pale back was pressed against the dry earth. The waterfall dripped in the distance, as birds sung in the trees, neither seemed to notice.

His lips were everywhere one her body, her face, her chest, her breasts, her stomach, letting out all the pent up desires he'd had ever time he'd seen her, whether it be in the jungle as he cautiously checked her out while she wasn't looking, or when he accidentally barged into the bathroom while she had her shower.

His hand slid up between the strap of her underwear and her bare hip. The softness of her skin tingled his fingertips as he pulled down on the article of clothing until it was discarded. He pulled away to remove his underwear, and she followed, gliding her hand across his thin hair as she continued to kiss him.

He led her back to the ground, this time situating himself between her legs as his face became equal with hers. The nervousness in her eyes burned into his, the need to have physical contact evident for both of them. What seemed like hours in built up anxiety was extinguished as soon as he was inside of her.

A small gasp escaped her mouth as he held her tighter, as he thrust against her. Her hands clutched his back as he continued moving on top of her, the connection between them almost electric.

Her nails dug into his back as he began to thrust faster, she could feel it coming to an end and her breath hitched in her throat until she felt a wave of pleasure course through her.

At almost the exact same moment, they both let out a moan, which seemed to echo through the jungle, almost triumphant. His body faltered and his head fell to her chest were it rose constantly with her excessive breathing as her fingers ran gently through his hair.

His weight shifted and her body seemed to roll on top of his, as he captured her lips again, "We waited way to long," he told her as his arm wrapped around her lower waist.

"What exactly are we supposed to do now?" she questioned as her head fell gently to his shoulder, her eyes dirtied with consequences. "I mean the others won't approve at all."

"Well if we got away from them once, we can do it again, right?" he questioned as his fingers wound through her curls, "We'll just have to be really discreet about it."

* * *

"Kate?" Libby questioned as she poked her head between the blue tarps, "Are you coming or not?" 

"Yeah, I'm just grabbing a gun," she informed as she stood up and stuck the fully-loaded revolver into the back of her blue jeans. Her eyes closed momentarily before she got the nerve to step outside.

"Is everything okay?" Libby questioned as Kate caught up with her and Sun down the beach a bit. They were planning on going into the jungle to collect fruit for the next three days.

"Yeah, I just need some bullets for the gun," she informed, "I don't know where Jack keeps them, and he's out with Sayid and Eko isn't he?" she questioned innocently.

"Yeah," Sun replied, nervous at the idea of venturing into the jungle unprotected, "Maybe we should wait until he comes back."

"I think Sawyer had some bullets in his stash, I mean if Jack wanted to keep them all in the same area, and all he wanted to do was piss off Jack, then our chances are good," she disclosed as she gestured to his tent.

"I don't want to go in there," Libby voiced, "Ana would get so upset if she caught us," he face turning white just at the thought.

"Libby this isn't high school, we need the bullets to survive," Kate enlightened as she turned towards the tent, "I'll be back in a few seconds, okay?" Sun and Libby nodded hesitantly as they watched her scamper towards Sawyer's old shelter.

Upon entering it, and making sure no one could see her, Kate immediately emptied the barrel of the gun onto the ground, then began rummaging through Sawyer's belongings until she found what she was searching for.

The brightly colored box stuck out among the other bleak medical supplies Sawyer still had hidden from Jack. Upon seeing it she swiftly shoved it into her backpack, burying it at the bottom, then casually collected herself before walking out of the tent nonchalantly pushing bullets into the gun.

"Ready?" Libby asked anxiously playing with the strap of her bag as Kate slipped the gun back into her blue jeans.

"Yep," Kate smiled and began to follow them down the beach. She'd take the pregnancy test later, when she was sure she could be alone and then sort this out for good.

* * *

_Yay for smuttiness (somewhat!) I hoped you guys liked it, because it's not going to happen again for another chapter. So enjoy it now! Yay for question time!_

**lostobsessivefreak  
**_it's okay, work on your speech. It's almost 4am here and I still have to speed read A Clockwork Orange again. And like I told Crazy, by speed read I mean read after I do speed. They should make a Dr. Seuss book like that._

**CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88  
**_You got to read it first! Yeah for being a fishy! Lol I know you liked it already, but…I hope you liked it! Lol I had to say it, because I like to bug. _

**Whirlwind-2005  
**_I know I do it in every story, mostly because it's what I'm good at writing. Seriously who can right a pregnant Kate better then me? Huh? Lol I'm kidding. I write it because I'm good at it, and it's fun. Besides I like freaky names and this way I get to use them all (laughs maniacally). And I did continue it! See, see I liked it too.  
I like Eko because he's scary, like Ethan (and Desmond) and I love Libby because I see her as a crazy/horny psychologist. And it makes me laugh. She reminds me of me in 20 years._

**October Sky  
**_Lol everyone likes a little twist. I seriously don't know what else to say…_

**Freckles-101  
**_They're going to have kick ASS names, because I'm the best name picker in the entire universe! I mean who has such original names? I got Maverick from a commercial and I got Ainslie from a street. Lyndan from a guy from Mortal Kombat. Seriously I'm all over, just wait…  
if you want to suggest something, I'll listen to it, but if it's like "Make Jack and Kate fall in love forever" I'm not going to listen, it'll have to be realistic to the storyline, but other than that, I'd love to hear them.  
I believe this gave out more details on Shannon's disappearance, versus Claire's, but I'm still working out the last few kinks in hers. Anyways it's going to be explained slowly, because like a fat kid and a chocolate cake, you can't let them have it all at once or they'll have a heart attack. _

_I swear I thought Cindy was autistic. She was like more out of it than Libby. Wow. But yes I had to work that night, but I taped it and ate my veggie burger at 2am while watching it. It was sweet lol.  
Lol I call Ana-Lucia, Mana-Lucifer. Feel free to use it And I almost cried when Shannon got shot because Shannon looks almost EXACTLY like my sister from hell. And when she fell over dead I was like (mouth agape) and then I thought "So that's what it's gonna look like when I kill her…" It was freaky._

_**

* * *

Next chapter**- It's been a month after the twins have been born. A month of being cooped up in the hatch, and no one is to happy about that, especially Ana-whateva… I mean Ana-Lucia. And we find out a few more things about Locke…and his evolvement…in…all………this. _


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